Hope
by MaryLouJan
Summary: After a suspect chase gone wrong kate vanishes for days. After she is found it's up to Rick to pick up the pieces. Warning contains mention of rape and torture
1. Chapter 1

**AN: I usually write Rizzoli and Isles so I tried something new. It's dark or will get dark if you allow me to continue. It's somewhat AU and other TV Characters will make appearances.**

**Disclaimer: I own nothin' except the idea.**

**Mary**

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It was cold. Oh so cold. She couldn't remember the last time a winter had been so cold and snowy. She couldn't remember when's the last time she had felt warm, when's the last time she had eaten something. She felt so weak and it was so damn cold. The small blanket draped around her shoulders didn't do her anything good, except for covering her nakedness. It must have been hours ago or at least that's what she thought, since the last time she had felt any of her limbs. Her hands and feet were numb and she had been grateful for feeling anything after falling down a bank nearby where they had kept her. The whole lower right leg had been cut open by a sharp rock she had fallen onto, while finding a way through the three feet high snow. After a while it hadn't hurt anymore and the bleeding had stopped too. Now it just looked purple and yellow around the deep cut. But it didn't hurt. Nothing did hurt. So she had gathered herself up and had stumbled through the snow, leaving a blood trail behind hoping somebody would find her.

She had no idea where she was but she was sure she at least made it to a town or a street before she allowed herself to collapse.

Her escape hadn't been luck or anything. They had left her there, maybe for the wolfs to eat her alive or maybe just because they could. It had taken all her strength to rip out the chain which she had been shackled to the wall with. It had been an old run down abandoned farm house they had taken her to after raping her the first time since her abduction. If you could call it an abduction. It had been nothing more like a Rookie mistake.

They had canvased an abandoned warehouse in the Bronx after receiving details on their suspect. But she hadn't expected a group of drug dealers she had walked in on. After round one they had left with her for the farm. There they had ripped off her clothes and then had collared her, collared her so they could keep her as their slave or whatever they thought she would be for them. Every now and then they had given her something to drink and to eat but most time they just took turns with her.

She remembered that there were four men in the beginning and a fifth arrived much later. He had been the one who had stopped her torture. He must have been the leader of this group. But never even once had she seen a face or a tattoo of her torturers. Nothing significant, except the Russian accent. She hadn't been able to make out how many days and nights they had kept her there because the most time she had been passed out by the pain they had liked inflicting on her. The first time she had fought them, even the second and third time she had tried to put up a fight but after that she just had prayed to survive this.

It was midday, at least that's what the sun told her, when she saw a street through the trees. She gathered all her strength and made it up a bank to what she now noticed was a high way. She had no idea how to get the drivers attention. She climbed over the barrier that separated highway from land let the blanket fall from around her shoulders and limped onto the road. Due to the weather the highway was more like a ghost-way but then a dark limousine slammed on the breaks and came to a halt just feet away from her. A truck which had been able to avoid a crash honked and came several hundred feet behind her to a stop.

The driver from the black limousine, a Toyota, got out on shaky legs.

"Hey lady are you crazy?" He yelled stepping to the woman standing on the highway. That's when he realized that she was naked and… He came closer never taking his eyes from her naked form. Her whole body was covered in whip marks.

"I…" The woman whispered and collapsed onto the cold cement. The driver from the Toyota instantly leaped forward to catch her, only to go down with her. He immediately took off his winter jacket and draped it over the shivering form in his lap.

"Hey you." He yelled as he saw the truck driver coming over. "Call an ambulance and get blankets ASAP." The truck driver just nodded and took off to his truck dialing for an ambulance.

The Toyota driver tucked his jacket around the woman in his lap rubbing some warmth into her bones. She looked up at him with glazy eyes.

"Shhh. I've got you, help is on the way." He murmured with a somewhat soothing voice. She tried to shift but he just pulled her closer to his warm body. "No stay, I've got to get you warm." He said trying to lift her up so he could carry her to his car.

"My…my…" she started but her teeth were clattering from the cold. The blond haired man looked down on her.

"Yes?" he asked while awkwardly opening the passenger side door with her in his arms.

"Kate…" she breathed out and then she lost consciousness.

Rick sat slumped in his chair on his desk the open lap top in front of him. It was the eighth day since the whole catching a suspect had gone wrong. It had been his seventh night without his new wife beside him in bed. Funny thing was it was Christmas Morning and nothing in the Castle household was festive.

They had caught the lead on a Friday afternoon. Javier had come in with a witness who had claimed he had seen their suspect in the Bronx hiding in an abandoned warehouse. Ryan, Javier and Kate had went there to follow the fresh lead while Castle had left for the loft, claiming he had some writing to do, since Gina had given him a new deadline till New Year's Eve. So the three of them had gone without the writer, promising to see him on Monday morning after hopefully closing this case. Kate had kissed him goodbye and promised she would be home for dinner.

After entering their married life together Kate had suggested trying for a baby. That was the reason why she had started spending more time at home with Rick in their bed then at the precinct hunting down murderers. Nobody had said something about the change in her work hours but they all had their suspicions. It had been a week prior when Kate had come home with a bright grin plastered all over her face. He had known right from the moment she had entered that it had worked and that she was pregnant but hadn't let on that he knew. That evening had ended in bed with hours of lovemaking. Since that day he had reasoned with her being cautious whenever she had to take a field trip. And she had done so until that fateful afternoon.

He had told Espo and Ryan to take care of her only being brushed off that their boss was able to look after herself. Kate had given him a side-glance warning not to let slip that she was pregnant and he had let is slide. Now he wondered if he would have been able to prevent things from happening.

It had been short after six when Espo had called him only to tell him that Kate had vanished. They had looked for her the first few hours, canvased the area, Rick with a sick feeling in his gut but they'  
d had to stop when the temperatures dropped below ten degrees Fahrenheit.

The next three days Rick and the rest of the twelfth prescient had been looking for her all over New York City without any sign. On the fourth day Gates had send him home to Alexis and Martha with the promise to expand their search over the city borders, alarming everyone in the neighbor states. Since then Rick had only been waiting, waiting for any kind of information on Kate's whereabouts.

He was so lost in his thoughts that he hadn't heard the ringing of the phone. It was only a couple of seconds later when Alexis entered his office with a frantic look on her face.

"Dad!" she raised him from his thoughts. With clouded eyes he looked at his daughter who was holding the phone in her hand. That's what got his attention and he leaped out of his chair.

"They found her. She's alive."

He stumbled over his feet reaching for the phone. "Richard Castle." He said with a shaking voice into the speaker. Alexis watched something like relieve washing over his face. That's when he took off.

"She's at Mercy West." He called over his shoulder to his confused daughter.


	2. Chapter 2

**AN. I'm in a mood. So be happy :-)**

**Thanks for the reviews. They made my day ;-)**

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Hope – Chapter 2

Five Hours. It had been five hours since that call and they still had no word on her. Rick had burst through the ER doors and demanded to know where his wife was. All of the built up emotions had broken free. The nurses he had bellowed at had retreated from him and his family after he was brought to the surgery room. He hat growled and yelled at every hospital staff that had come from the room just to get the same damn answer every time. No news yet. Alexis and Martha had offered to get some coffee and something to eat but he had declined. Instead he had paced a hole in the floor. When Jim and the others had arrived he had finally sat down.

He tried had tried to stay calm since the rest of the family had sat down but Jim had sensed this built up tension. Being the father that he was he had sat down next to his son-in-law and had assured him that Katie had survived a lot. Rick had tried to believe him but he just couldn't not with the little information he had gotten out of one of the nurses from the ER. Things like frostbite, marks, and sever hypothermia had been cruising around in his head ever since. He had told them about the baby and the only response was that she had probably lost it.

He had no idea what Kate must have endured while being away. He had no idea what had happened to her. But rumors had it that she had been kept by some freaking lunatics. The police had told him that they had found her naked and frozen to death on an highway upstate and that, after confirming her identity flown her to New York City. The two men who had found had told the police that her whole body had been covered in what they presumed whip marks and that she had been wearing some sort of dog collar around her neck. His gut had twisted at this information but he had had to keep it together for the rest of them. He was a grown man. He just couldn't break down in front of his mother and Alexis. There was plenty of time for that later.

When the doors from the operation room opened all heads turned around to see a honey blond woman in blue scrubs come through. She ripped the surgical mask and hood from her face and threw them in a trash can next to the chairs.

"Family of Kate Beckett?" she asked and Rick was the first one at her side.

"How is she?" he asked his voice laced with worry and fear not caring if he knew who the hell the doctor in front of him was. He just wanted Kat.

The blond woman cleared her throat. "Are you the husband?" she asked eyeing him suspiciously.

"Yes, yes I am, Richard Castle, so please doctor…" he broke off suddenly not knowing how to address the woman in front of him.

"Isles. Dr. Maura Isles. And your wife is alive." She replied stuffing her hands in the pockets of the scrubs.

"How is she? Can I see her?" Rick started bombarding the doctor again, not caring for anything else at the moment.

"I…" Maura started and looked over Rick's shoulder to see at least five worried faces. "We should discuss your wife's condition in private."

Rick looked over his shoulder glancing at the rest of the family. "What? Why? There is no need for that, they can hear it." Rick said turning his attention back to Maura.

Maura closed her eyes drew in a breath and looked Rick straight in the eyes. "I really would like to discuss your wife's condition in private."

He again looked over his shoulder only to see Jim and Martha nodding at him giving their approval.

"We wait." Jim said and motioned for Martha and Alexis to sit back down. "Go Rick." When Rick turned his attention back to Dr. Isles she turned around and walked down the corridor towards an empty room, which he presumed was for family members waiting for news on loved ones. When she had cleared that the room was free she gestured form him to enter and took a seat at the next table. He did the same no longer being able to keep quiet.

"What is with Kate? Is she alright? You said that…" but he was cut off by Maura.

"Detective Beckett is alive yes I said that but her condition is grave Mr. Castle" she said looking at him with what he could only read as sorrow. He took a deep breath. "What, how, what happened to her?" He asked in a shaky voice.

Maura folded her hands on the table. "When Detective Beckett was brought in she was in a very bad shape. She had frostbite on her hands and feet and a severe case of hypothermia. Her body temperature was 32,4 degrees Celsius and…" she paused closing her eyes picturing Kate once again.

"She had deep lacerations on her back, most likely from a whip, which we were able to close. Both of her shoulders had been dislocated due to, and that's what I think, a torture technique called Strappado. Both of her wrists are broken and there was a deep cut on her right lower leg." Maura paused waiting for Castle to take it all in. His eyes were watery and she could see that he was fighting back the tears.

"We also found sever bruising between her thighs. Mr. Castle your wife has been repeatedly raped vaginally and anally. It's…" she paused taking a deep breath. "It's bad, really bad. We had to stitch her up but she may require further surgery, after it has healed up a little."

Now the tears were flowing freely but she had to tell him Kate's whole condition.

"Right now your wife is comfortable due to the sedation. We're fighting off a sepsis she's got mainly because of the infected leg wound and the pneumonia but it's possible she'll lose her right leg, too."

At that his head shot up. "What do you mean by 'too'? What have you done?" he raised his voice. He got up from his chair started pacing around when there was a knock on the door.

"By too, I mean she's lost five her fingers and three toes due to the frostbite. I'm so sorry Mr. Castle." She got up and opened the door only to see none other than her wife outside the room. Maura stepped aside to let her in.

"I came as soon as we got the call." A raspy voice said. Rick knew that voice; he had joked with that person a lot when they had gone to high school.

"Jane?" he asked when he turned around only to be shocked a second time that day. There sat, Jane Rizzoli, his high school buddy from all those years ago in a wheelchair. "What the…" he mumbled as Jane wheeled over to the stunned man.

"Hey Rick." She greeted him. He sat back down to stunned by what he saw. "My wife" she gestured towards Maura "called me to report a rape victim. When I heard who it was I had to come by personally. I'm so sorry." She said as she reached for his hand to squeeze it.

Maura laid her hand on Jane's shoulder to sign her that she hadn't finished their talk. Jane nodded, squeezed Rick's hand again to get his attention. "I'll wait outside till you're finished." And with that she left the room.

Rick was still stunned by what he had witnessed and to confused to ask any questions.

"Mr. Castle?" she asked gently to draw him back to their talk. He blinked several times and looked up at her. "Do you have any questions?"

"She was tortured?" he asked in a childlike voice.

"From her wounds and… " Maura sighed. "Yeah I think your wife went through hell, but she is alive and that's what counts." She replied kindly and squeezed his broad shoulder. "She's intubated and we are trying to get her temperature up. Right now she is on heavy antibiotics to fight the sepsis but if her condition hasn't changed in the next 48 hours we have to amputate."

Silent tears streamed down his face as he stared off into space. He couldn't believe what he had just heard. Torture. Rape. Amputation. Whip. What the hell had happened out there in those days? Who had been cruel enough to do something so horrific to a person? He cleared his throat and got up.

"Can I see her now?" he asked looking at Maura with so much grief in his eyes.

Maura gave him a reassuring smile and nodded. "Of course, Mr. Castle. She's down In ICU so…" but she stopped before she went any further. She was back three years ago when Jane had been in ICU fighting for her life and she had refused to leave although the rules had required it. She made a mental note to allow Mr. Castle every access 24/7 to his wife and medical records. She was Chief of surgery. Nobody would go against her. She opened the door and looked over her shoulder.

"If you're up to it, I would like you to take you to her now."

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**Not really happy with it but you are the judges. **

**PS: My english is terrible today.**


	3. Chapter 3

**First off all thanks for those positive replies. Second, for those who think it's too cruel I can assure you that, if somebody would have to wander around naked in the snow, there would be a lot more to amputate. I already kept it a little softer. But I like to keep my stories, at least medically, as real as possible.**

**As for the leg, well I'm not sure yet but you guys gonna find out. I promise. **

**For Jane and Maura, it' sort of a crossover and I took them from my other story Collision, that's why Jane is in a wheelchair.**

**If you've got any questions feel free to ask me.**

**Now another chapter.**

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Hope – Chapter 3

She looked like a ghost. Pale like a sheet of paper. After he had informed the rest of Kate's condition he had followed Maura up to the ICU. She had told him that he had to dress in a special gown due to her sepsis. They couldn't risk any outside contaminations. He hated hospitals, especially since the fateful shooting four years ago. His thoughts flashed back to that day when Kate had gotten shot and almost bled to death. Well she had bled to death in the ambulance. Lanie, sitting on top of her, trying so hard to keep her friend alive. He closed his eyes took a deep breath and wrung his hands, like he tried to wipe the blood that came with the memory away. And now he stood in front of Kate's room watching her through the window.

"You're not going in?" the familiar raspy voice asked beside him. Rick flinched. He hadn't anticipated that Jane would follow him up here but he was glad that he wasn't alone, even if it was a person whom he hadn't seen in over twenty years. When he and his mother had lived in Boston in his late teens, he had befriended with the brunette. In the two years they had shared together a great friendship had formed. But after going to college in New York and Jane going to the police academy in Boston their contact had simply broken off. Now he somewhat regretted not having more of Jane in his life as he watched her in her wheelchair. What the hell had happened to her?

"I… " he started and then a realization hit him like a train. "The baby…" he whispered. Jane cooked an eyebrow and looked up at him.

"Baby?" she asked dumbstruck, she had absolutely no idea what he meant.

"She is… pregnant. I forgot to…" he broke off and grabbed the handle on the wall. His vision blurred, but cleared shortly after. Jane grabbed him by the forearm to steady him.

"Wow, Rodgers, just…" Jane looked down the corridor. "You go inside to your wife and I'll find Maura or a nurse to give me some information on your baby, okay?" she said squeezing his hand. He looked down on her and just nodded. He watched her wheel away and entered the private room.

The sight in front of him let his heart wrench in most impossible way. There was his Kate, the love of his life, fighting for her life, again. He swallowed hard and sat down in the chair next to the bed. She looked so fragile with the tracheal tube in her mouth. She was covered in special heating blankets to help her back to her normal body temperature. He was glad that he couldn't really see her injured body. He just couldn't take it right now. He was glad to have her back. That she was alive. The steady beeping of the heart monitor reassured him, kept him somewhat calm. He pulled his chair next to the bed and let his head rest in his hands. And finally he allowed him to cry.

He hadn't noticed that someone had entered the room and so he was startled a second time by that soothing dark voice.

"Your baby is fine Rick." Jane said as she wheeled next to him. She laid her hand over his and squeezed it. "Maura wasn't sure if it was from the… from what happened to Kate but she assured me that no harm was done."

Castle drew in a harsh breath and let out a strangled sob. Jane just sat in her chair, giving him the comfort she could and let him cry. It was weird for her to see it from this side, hadn't she been on the receiving end of such grief almost three years ago. She patted his shoulder drawing small circles of empathy. She knew how hard it must have been for Rick not knowing what had happened to Kate, finding her eight days later, on a Christmas Morning, only to realize that she might not survive this.

After his sobs had ceased to small whimpers he sat up, whipping the tears from his cheeks. "I'm sorry." He mumbled. Jane gave him a small smile.

"There is nothing you have to be sorry for. I understand."

He leant back in his chair running a hand over his face. "I thought I'd lost her and now… now I have her back but at what costs, Jane, they had to amputate her toes and fingers and…" he broke of shaking his head.

"I know Rick, I know. My squad is primary on her case so I know her condition." Jane sighed looking at Kate. Jane asked herself if she had looked like this, fragile and broken, almost deathlike. She was interrupted by a knock on the door. When it opened an older looking brunette peaked in.

"Lieutenant Rizzoli?" she asked, now noticing that Castle was there too. "Your wife said I would find you here. We found the abandoned farm house."

Jane turned her chair around and mention for the woman to come in. "Rick, this is Sergeant Benson. I'm her new boss and she and her partner are working Kate's case."

"Olivia Benson." The tall brunette introduced herself, shaking the offered hand.

"Richard Castle, I'm her husband." He gestured to Kate then turned his attention back to the two police women. "You found the place where she was kept?" he asked.

Olivia nodded. "Seems so, Mr. Castle, we got a call one hour ago from the local police that they had found traces of blood in the woods nest to an old farm house." She turned her attention back to Jane. "Amaro and I are going to head upstate to see what we can get." She told her Lieutenant. "Just wanted to let you know that you need to catch a cab later."

Jane nodded and they said their goodbyes. When Sergeant Benson had left the room he turned around to Jane. "Is she good?" he asked. He knew that he couldn't measure every cop in NY with Kate but he wanted the best for finding these bastards.

"She's the best." Jane replied and wheeled closer to the bed. "We're gonna find those son-of-a-bitches who did this to her Rick, I promise, if I could, I would be out in the field helping them, but Amaro and Benson are the best." He grabbed her hand and squeezed it. Silence fell over them. But he broke it not shortly after.

"What happened to you Jane?" he asked, never letting go of her hand. It was something they had done before. Giving the other silent support. They had gotten teased for that. But it had been there way of being there for each other. Jane took a deep breath.

"Car accident three years ago. Got t-boned by a truck, was in a coma for almost two weeks nasty head injury too. Well and this" she gestured towards her legs. "I'm an incomplete T12 paraplegic."

Caste just looked at her. He had no idea what to say, or how to react. "But you're still… I don't understand?" he stuttered. Jane just chuckled.

"I had been a damn good homicide detective until then and Maura, the doc who has operated on your wife, our ME." Rick's eyes got wide. From death people doc to living people doc, usually it was the other way around.

"Yeah funny huh, I still gotta wrap my mind around it that she now has living patients. But anyways, well we tried everything to get me back on my feet but nothing has worked so far. So we decided to turn our lives around and came to New York six months ago. After I got my promotion I was assigned to the Special Victims Unit here in Manhattan as their new LT."

Rick was stunned at the information. And impressed at how things had worked out for Jane. He gave her small smile. "Sorry to hear that about your… legs." He said awkwardly.

Jane smiled and shook her head. "Gotten used to it by now. I've dealt with it and made my peace with it." Jane shrugged her shoulders. "But enough about me. I should leave you two alone now. Maura has arranged for you to sleep here. Usually it's against hospital policy but I guess she knows exactly what you need now." She patted him on the shoulder and left the room.

Rick stood up and bent down to kiss his wife's forehead. "I'm here honey. So please Kate, please wake up soon."

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**Liked it? Let me know.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Here is another Chapter. For those who think it is too dark and scary and think no one can come back from that, you don not have to read what I write but I assure you that my stories all have a happy ending, even if the road the characters take is a dark path.**

**Disclaimers: I own nothing, they are just borrowed.**

**And thanks to those who support my kind of writing. Thanks.**

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Chapter 4

The night had been uneventful. After Jane had left him alone he had stepped outside to inform Jim , Martha, Alexis and the boys. Jim had been clearly shaken by the information provided by Rick. Alexis had only clung to her grandmother and for the first time since Kate had been kidnapped allowed her tears to escape. And Esposito and Ryan had asked him if they could help the team of SVU detectives handling Kate's case. He simply had handed Javier the card, Jane had had left for him and after a very emotional goodbye the boys had left the hospital. Rick had told Jim and the women of his family to go home and get a good night's sleep. After a short discussion the three of them had left with the promise to be back in the morning with fresh clothes for Rick.

The night nurse had put a cot next to Kate's bed where he could at least try to get some sleep. But he just had sat there listening to the machines keeping his precious wife alive. It had been shortly after one a.m. when the night nurse had come to check on them both only to find Rick slumped in his chair. After she had woken him up he had, without any form of resistance, agreed to sleep on the cot. It had been merely the exhaustion instead of tiredness from the previous week that had him sleeping like a stone.

The shuffling of feet and the rustling of paper had Rick rousing from his sleep. He threw back the covers and sat on the side of the cot running his hands over his face. He blinked two times and noticed Dr. Isles at the end of Kate's bed, writing something in her chart.

"What time is it?" Rick asked, his voice laced with sleep.

Maura put the chart down and glanced at her wrist watch. "It's quarter past seven Mr. Castle."

Rick stood up from where he was sitting and glanced at Kate's still form. He couldn't quite believe that he had slept this long.

"Please call me Rick." He said running a hand through his hair. Maura had to admit that he was somewhat handsome for a man. But no one could ever live up to Jane, even if she was confined to her chair.

"How is she?" Rick asked stepping around the bed, stroking his wife's pale face. She had warmed up again to a normal temperature, at least that's what he thought.

"She survived the night." Maura simply answered. It had taken her long to adjust working on living patients again but after overcoming her fear of failing she had managed to live up to her standards everyone had been used to.

"She is still two degrees under the normal body temperature and her leucocyte levels are still too high for my liking. We are giving her the strongest antibiotics possible, we even added anti-inflammatory tonight." She sighed stepping next to Rick.

"I have to take a look at her sutures on her back and make sure her amputation wounds are not infected." At that Rick winced looking pained at Maura.

"I never asked…" he trailed of gesturing to her thick white hands. "Which did you have to…" he gulped "take off."

Maura smiled at him understanding what this man was going through right now. She simply laid the chart down at the end of the bed put on some gloves and started unwrapping Kate's hands.

"On her left hand," She said cutting through the rest of the bandages revealing three little stumps and two angry purple fingers. "We had to take off the pinky and ring finger including her thumb."

Rick took in a sharp breath and covers his mouth with his right hand. It was a disfiguring picture to see Kate's beautiful hand with only two fingers left to it. A single tear escaped him which was quickly wiped away. Maura waited until he had gathered himself for the right, the gun hand.

"On her right hand," she repeated the actions from the left hand. "We had to take of the last two. So she still has her thumb, pointer and middle finger." Like the left hand the right hand looked as nasty as the other. Raw and red around the stitches and the other fingers like from a frozen body.

Rick closed his eyes and willed his heartbeat to slow down and his stomach to settle. He had seen almost everything since he had started following Kate around but seeing those marks on a beloved person only broke his heart more.

"And you couldn't have saved them?" he asked in a childlike whisper. Maura applied some anti-inflammatory ointment on the wounds and tightly wrapped new gauze around them. Maura looked up to see pain and hurt and also anger etched across his face.

"I'm sorry Mr. Cas- Rick, but no, we couldn't. They were already dead and we had to make sure that…" Rick waved her off.

"I understand. What about her feet you said that… you had to amputate there too."

Maura gently laid Kate's handy back on the thick bed sheets stepped to the bed end and uncovered Kate's feet. It looked exactly the same like with her hands. Thick white gauze tightly wrapped around the hidden wounds. She took a scissor from her pocket and started cutting the bandages away. First on the left side.

"We had to take of three toes. Lucky for her it wasn't the big toe." She immediately regretted her choice of words as she saw Rick's puzzled look. "I'm sorry." She apologized. "That's not exactly luck as in fortune but in order to stand and walk you need your big toe, that's what I was trying to say." Maura rambled on. A blush crept up her cheeks and Rick noticed the discomfort the doctor was now in.

"It's okay Dr. Isles. I… I get what you were trying to say." He tried to reassure her. Maura simply nodded and showed him the exact same picture like he had seen with Kate's hands. He closed his eyes and gripped the bedpost not sure he could stand it anymore. Maura noticed immediately and grabbed him before he could slip.

"Take a seat Rick. It's my fault I shouldn't have shown you this shortly after getting up yourself. You haven't eaten and I'm sure you could use some water…." She again rambled opening the door to Kate's room yelling for a bottle of water.

"No Dr. Isles, no, it's…it's okay please continue. I have to know and see the extent of her injuries. I…. please continue." He sighed standing up from the chair Maura had pushed him onto.

Maura nodded. "But please call me Maura. I know you are a friend of Jane's so there is no need for formalities anymore."

She pushed the sheet further up revealing a complete wrapped up leg. Between the gauze was a tube draining yellowish fluid from beneath. Maura noticed him staring at the foreign object wondering why now blood came through and explained.

"That's a drainage pumping out the blood and ooze coming from the rather long and deep gash your wife sustained maybe through a fall along a sharp object; a rock maybe." Maura said cutting along on the inside of Kate's lower leg. She was just lucky for the beautiful brunette that she couldn't feel anything of it. Infected wounds especially in this size and depth were rather painful.

After unwrapping the foot and lower leg both were met with a very dark blue looking leg. Dark greenish ooze came out of the wound on the edges. A frown appeared on her face and she pulled out her phone. Rick now more curious about what was going on turned his gaze to Maura.

"What's happening? Something isn't right, isn't it?" he asked his voice slightly panicked. Maura raised her hand to cut him off and started to speak.

"Jenny? Yes it's Dr. Isles. I need a sonogram in room B01 ICU left wing right now." She ended the call and put her phone back into her breast pocket. She took a deep breath and turned to Rick.

"I think, but I need confirmation for that, that the meds aren't working for her. It seems that there is little to no blood circulation in that leg anymore." Maura slowly said. Rick's eyes went huge in an instant.

"But that would mean that you…" he simply stopped staring at the foreign looking leg. "you can't… you have to save her leg Maura." Tears swam now in his eyes. Maura stepped up to him and squeezed his shoulder.

"I know Rick. That's why I need to do a sonogram to see if I can save her leg." He looked her straight in the eyes and nodded.

"But if I can't, if you want her to live you need to be prepared to make that decision. You are her husband." The tears had now escaped from his eyes and he wasn't ashamed of them anymore.

That short moment of realization and grief were interrupted by the nurse, presumably Jenny, wheeling in a small portable sonogram. She plugged it in and Maura applied gel on the scanner. Carefully she put it on Kate's leg and looked at the screen. She slid the scanner along her ankle and calf and what she saw wasn't promising. No pulse at all. She cleaned the scanner and gave Jenny a sign that she was finished and could leave. Maura took a deep breath and turned to Rick.

"I'm sorry." She simply said.

* * *

**I know you wanted me to save this leg but I just couldn't**


End file.
